Pope Offers Express Ticket Through Purgatory to Twitter Followers

English: woodcut of the pope selling indulgences, from Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pope Francis, the spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church, is offering an express ticket to heaven especially for those who follow him on social media sites Pinterest and Twitter.

The Pontiff has said that followers who click on his twitter links or pins during the week of events surrounding Catholic World Youth Day (starting July 22nd) will enjoy a shortened stay in purgatory after they die. Purgatory is a halfway house between heaven an hell where Catholic sinners who have confessed their wrong-doing and been absolved go for temporary punishment and purification before entering heaven.

Over the years various popes have made offers of lenient treatment in the afterlife for people who follow an edict; they are called ‘indulgences’. In the past even parish priests were able to offer indulgences, but abuse by corrupt priests who sold them for cash gave the whole concept a bad reputation. So much so in fact, that the practice of selling indulgences is thought to have been a major factor behind the rise of Protestantism, which emphasised individual connection to god without the need to pay a priest.

Although it may seem that the pope’s offer requires very little from the catholic faithful – just a few simple clicks – Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli was keen to explain that spiritual benefit are not quite to easy to obtain, telling Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera

“You can’t obtain indulgences like getting a coffee from a vending machine. What really counts is that the tweets the Pope sends from Brazil or the photos of the Catholic World Youth Day that go up on Pinterest produce authentic spiritual fruit in the hearts of everyone.”

About the Author

Dean Walsh - Dean Walsh is the owner and editor of World News Curator. He also owns and runs Ourly News and a range of other online publications.